EARLY RENAISSANCE

ARCHITECTURE

Renaissance- An
Overview
RENAISSANCEREBIRTH , A REVIVAL OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN
CLASSICAL AGE

The spread of the Renaissance

movement

RenaissanceEarly Renaissance
High Renaissance
Mannerist movement

The Vitruvian man- humanism,

human proportions

Renaissance- An
Quattrocento/ Early Renaissance [1400-1500]
Overview

concepts of architectural order explored and rules

were formulated.
High renaissance [1500-1525] - concepts derived
from classical antiquity were developed and used
with greater surety.
Mannerism [1520-1600] architects
experimented with architectural forms to
emphasis solid and spatial relationships.

Santa Maria delle Grazie,

Milan
High Renaissance
phase
Above: Piazza del Campidoglio, Mannerist
Phase
Right: St. Peters memorial, Early

illipo Brunelleschi
Mechanical/ technical genius

Filippo Brunellesc

Devised scheme for constructing the Florence Cathedral along with

required mechanical devices, hoists, etc.
Credited with developing linear perspective.

Dome interior view

Florence Cathedral and its iconic
dome

illipo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunellesc

View of side chapels, perspective

recession

More balanced
proportions
slightly higher
nave

San Lorenzo, Florence

Main nave space

More robust,
three dimensional
use of classical
orders
Plan

Harmony

illipo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunellesc

Orphanage
general flatness of
classical detail
Ospedale Degli Innocenti, Florence

drawn on pietra serena, grey

sandstone, on solid white
plaster background.

Careful attention to proportion in three

dimensions.
Example of new civic spirit
Round arches/ classical profiles
Regularity of plan
plan

illipo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunellesc

ideal, balanced
proportions in
interior space and
exterior massing
Interior view
Santo Spiriti, view

aisles have a more solid feel. Classical details.

continuous ambulatory of square bays
faade was finished later. Curved volutes seen
over aisles which could have been Albertis
influence.

eon Battista Albertini

first theorist of the new humanist arts.
wrote treatises on painting, sculpture and architecture.
Albertini

example of the classical principle of

superimosition
column used as ornamentation to
define or proportion wall surface.

Palazzo Rucellai, Florence

Visible columns
used as dividers of
facade

Elevation

eon Battista Albertini

used proto- Renaissance
pattern elements, parts of
Gothic Facade and classical
Roman architectural
vocabulary

Albertini

the structure fits within a

perfect square
Santa Maria Novella, Florence

more solidity, pilaster

ends, strong separation
classical arches, columns and clearbands
entablature
between levels
use of scrolls to toe the elevational difference
within the structure together

scroll

Perfect proportions of Santa Maria

rchitectural Elememts
Plan-The plans of Renaissance buildings have a square, symmetrical,
planned appearance in which proportions are usually based on a
module.
Faade-Faades are symmetrical around their vertical axis. Church
facades are generally surmounted by a pediment and organized by a
system of pilasters, arches and entablatures. The columns and
windows show a progression towards the center.
Columns and Pilasters-Architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and
entablatures as an integrated system.
Arches- arches are semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental.
Arches are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with
capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital
and the springing of the arch
Vaults- Vaults do not have ribs. They are semi-circular or segmental
and on a square plan
Domes- A very large structural feature that is visible from the

oncluding Inferences
Early Renaissance buildings displayed a certain sobriety (humble,
inward looking) and separation between the public (facade) and the
private (interior, courtyard) elements
The interplay between repetitive modules, now called for grouping
and alternating of the same elements.
For instance, equidistant apertures in the facade were now grouped
together followed by alternating wide or narrow blank masonry strips.
The apertures themselves assumed greater importance and were
framed with combinations of pilasters, architraves or arches, and/or
triangular or rounded gables, frequently, a combination of all
permutations and combinations.
The obvious distinguishing features of Classical Roman architecture
were adopted by Renaissance architects.
The ancient orders were analysed and reconstructed to serve new
purposes